


Fading Comet

by NashidaKyouko



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 3rd person pov, Canon Compliant, Ficlet, Gen, Honestly not sure if I'd call this angst, Hurt No Comfort, Missing Scene, One Shot, Post-Sozin's Comet, Sozin's Comet, cross posted on tumblr, i guess, it's just melancholy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26837803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NashidaKyouko/pseuds/NashidaKyouko
Summary: Azula watches the last of Sozin’s Comet trail through the sky as she awaits her formal arrest.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Fading Comet

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own AtLA or the characters

The red haze didn't begin to clear until well after the sun had set. Even though her father must have been defeated hours ago, the world still looked enveloped in flames by the comet's light. Azula could pretend. She could pretend for now that the world had really burned to the ground as long as the blaze of the comet licked so near the edges of the planet. There were heavy chains pinning her to a sewer grating, sure, but other than that...

At least it _looked_ like they'd won the day. Like she hadn't lost everything she had left in a matter of hours. Once her sobbing subsided, she dimly watched the comet streak across the sky.

It was a marvel that no one bothered to come for her until almost midnight. Only the faintest hints of orange lingered on the horizon. Azula continued to look in its direction, eyes glazed. She scarcely noticed the palace guards come to arrest her. They must have been off tending to their new soon-to-be Fire Lord, too busy to deal with her until now. Azula expected to feel something at that thought—rage, spite, maybe even self-pity—but all she felt was spent and empty.

“Azula, you have been stripped of your title and are being taken into custody. You shall await judgment from Prince Zuko in the coming days. Do not resist arrest.” The head guard tried to speak authoritatively, but a twinge of fear clung to his voice. He held himself in a strong firebending stance as he slowly approached Azula.

Her amber eyes flitted to him, utterly bored. “I won't. There's nothing left for me. I have no reason to kill you right now.” She expelled a bitter laugh.

The head guard lifted his face visor and exchanged a concerned glance with his second-in-command. Neither was sure if the ex-princess was trying to deceive them. Better not to let their guard slip in the slightest. The guardsmen surrounded Azula and cautiously apprehended her. They were sure to bind her mouth as soon as they were close enough, knowing that her fire breath could easily kill any of them.

After such a sweltering day, the night was colder than anyone would have expected. The walk to the cell where Azula would await Zuko's ruling chilled even the firebenders. Azula allowed herself to be led, still watching the sky long after the last trace of the comet had faded away. None commented on how she trembled.

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet just happened when I was thinking about Azula last night. Some folks showed some interest in reading, so here you go! Thanks for reading!
> 
> Please drop me some kudos if you liked it!
> 
> (PS, we know from the comics Zuko chooses to send her to an institution rather than jail, but that doesn't mean he decided that the very second he woke up.)


End file.
